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Night's Dawn #1
The Reality Dysfunction
In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature’s boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp. But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal’s chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it “The Reality Dysfunction”. It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history. ‘Absolute vintage science-fiction. Hamilton puts British sci-fi back into interstellar overdrive’ The Times
1264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 26, 1996
2095 people are currently reading
34131 people want to read
About the author
Peter F. Hamilton
196 books10.3k followersPeter F. Hamilton is a British science fiction author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide, making him Britain's biggest-selling science fiction author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,472 reviews
April 11, 2021
This is one of the best Sci-Fi series ever written, comparable with the old classics and The Expanse, Reynolds, Banks, Scalzi, Stephenson, Simmons,… and I can´t say how much I love this novel. I was still really young when I read it the first time and Hamilton was the one who opened my mind for the immense possibilities of Sci-Fi. And the endless love story began,... I should consider rereading all he wrote again.
He is the Stephen King of Sci-Fi, other genre authors might write less stereotypical, more believable, less controversial, more tech-focused,… but he ultimately checked that the fusion of persons, plots, sense of wonder, and worldbuilding is the key to readers' ultimate dreams. No passage, nothing that let´s one get out of the flow for a moment and that although there are flaws such as logic holes and other points people criticize in his work. But just as the mentioned King, he is so good at what he does that one doesn´t care because I must say that I have hardly ever read any Sci-Fi novels (it were hundreds) that were of a similar intensity.
Hamilton fuses protagonists, plot, and world together, there is hardly ever any interaction, dialogue, that has no relevance and this differentiates him from many other Sci-Fi authors and genres. Hard-Sci-Fi has too much technobabble and too little identification with the characters and parts with them, social Sci-Fi hasn´t enough action, each subgenre has elements some group of readers could dislike. But Hamilton avoids them all, he has the epic, understandable, not too specific Hard-Sci-Fi infodump, the not too detailed characters that have chronic McGuffinitis and Chekhovitis and can´t move without pushing the story forward with their tech, biotech, psitech, lovetech, are entertainingly superficial social Sci-Fi and there are no lengths, although the novels are massive.
That´s the most amazing thing, I´ve reread some passages I, in retrospect, couldn´t imagine having taken so many pages and described just a short passage, an extremely detailed, but still stunning mini chapter inside a chapter.
One of the reasons why his writing is so great is that he has no background in natural sciences such as many authors and that brought him in a position of focusing on writing entertaining and avoiding too specific descriptions, instead getting better and better in plotting. You see, other Sci-Fi authors tend to over integrate elements of their professions and that can, if one isn´t into that kind of thing, get lengthy to boring for many readers. Too much astrophysics, tech, informatics, physics,… and, on the other hand, philosophy, sociology, social criticism, economics, politics,… make broad fields of Sci-Fi indigestible for readers with not so special interests.
His genius can also be shown by comparing him with other popular Sci-Fi authors, who have different prioritization in their works. The Expanse is the only comparable universe that is so accessible, trope forming, and both character and plot driven.
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order, although the series set closest to now, Salvation lost, is still unfinished, so better read before in the following order:
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
He is the Stephen King of Sci-Fi, other genre authors might write less stereotypical, more believable, less controversial, more tech-focused,… but he ultimately checked that the fusion of persons, plots, sense of wonder, and worldbuilding is the key to readers' ultimate dreams. No passage, nothing that let´s one get out of the flow for a moment and that although there are flaws such as logic holes and other points people criticize in his work. But just as the mentioned King, he is so good at what he does that one doesn´t care because I must say that I have hardly ever read any Sci-Fi novels (it were hundreds) that were of a similar intensity.
Hamilton fuses protagonists, plot, and world together, there is hardly ever any interaction, dialogue, that has no relevance and this differentiates him from many other Sci-Fi authors and genres. Hard-Sci-Fi has too much technobabble and too little identification with the characters and parts with them, social Sci-Fi hasn´t enough action, each subgenre has elements some group of readers could dislike. But Hamilton avoids them all, he has the epic, understandable, not too specific Hard-Sci-Fi infodump, the not too detailed characters that have chronic McGuffinitis and Chekhovitis and can´t move without pushing the story forward with their tech, biotech, psitech, lovetech, are entertainingly superficial social Sci-Fi and there are no lengths, although the novels are massive.
That´s the most amazing thing, I´ve reread some passages I, in retrospect, couldn´t imagine having taken so many pages and described just a short passage, an extremely detailed, but still stunning mini chapter inside a chapter.
One of the reasons why his writing is so great is that he has no background in natural sciences such as many authors and that brought him in a position of focusing on writing entertaining and avoiding too specific descriptions, instead getting better and better in plotting. You see, other Sci-Fi authors tend to over integrate elements of their professions and that can, if one isn´t into that kind of thing, get lengthy to boring for many readers. Too much astrophysics, tech, informatics, physics,… and, on the other hand, philosophy, sociology, social criticism, economics, politics,… make broad fields of Sci-Fi indigestible for readers with not so special interests.
His genius can also be shown by comparing him with other popular Sci-Fi authors, who have different prioritization in their works. The Expanse is the only comparable universe that is so accessible, trope forming, and both character and plot driven.
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order, although the series set closest to now, Salvation lost, is still unfinished, so better read before in the following order:
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
November 2, 2016
I'm on page 450 and I don't know if I can finish this one. So far we've had:
Awesome:
- Humans biologically bonded to technology: Because I can't wait for my own neural link into the internets.
- Space colonisation programme, settlers, frontiers, etc. = I always enjoy this sort of thing.
Not so awesome:
The protagonist is a tremendous Gary Stu: not only do his adventures all turn out all right, he also ALWAYS gets the girl. He's handsome! In a roguish way! And as soon as he smiles at any female in the vicinity, sexy times are guaranteed!
Terrible:
We've already had rape, torture, general exploitation, and mysogyny. And I'm not even half-way through.
Ridiculous
The plots so far: Joshua has found an artifact that may hold the key to the self-destruction of an entire alien civilisation! What might it be? The most wanted man in the universe (and a bunch of satanists) are possessed by strange energy things fromthe dungeon another dimension! What might they be? Dr Mzu is trying to get away from Tranquility, probably to go looking for the Alchemist! Where might it be? Currently, Styrinx is somewhere buying seafood. (Includes whale watching! And sexy times!) Joshua is on Lalonde buying wood! (No sexy times yet but it can only be a matter of time!)
Abandon suspension of disbelief: Humans have colonised space, have bitek, and whatever, but can only get through the jungle on Lalonde on HORSES, and they can't travel upriver faster than by STEAMBOAT because not only aren't they allowed proper tech on the settlement planet, no, they also don't have transports that can take their soldiers WITH their horses upriver. Everyone knows something really BAD is happening in the Quallheim and yet the army takes a BOAT to get there, which takes a week, minimum. No. Just no.
I really want to find out how it all comes together in the end. But so far I'm not invested in any of the characters and I can never read more than a couple of chapters before the book flies. Think I'll give this a miss.
Awesome:
- Humans biologically bonded to technology: Because I can't wait for my own neural link into the internets.
- Space colonisation programme, settlers, frontiers, etc. = I always enjoy this sort of thing.
Not so awesome:
The protagonist is a tremendous Gary Stu: not only do his adventures all turn out all right, he also ALWAYS gets the girl. He's handsome! In a roguish way! And as soon as he smiles at any female in the vicinity, sexy times are guaranteed!
Terrible:
We've already had rape, torture, general exploitation, and mysogyny. And I'm not even half-way through.
Ridiculous
The plots so far: Joshua has found an artifact that may hold the key to the self-destruction of an entire alien civilisation! What might it be? The most wanted man in the universe (and a bunch of satanists) are possessed by strange energy things from
Abandon suspension of disbelief: Humans have colonised space, have bitek, and whatever, but can only get through the jungle on Lalonde on HORSES, and they can't travel upriver faster than by STEAMBOAT because not only aren't they allowed proper tech on the settlement planet, no, they also don't have transports that can take their soldiers WITH their horses upriver. Everyone knows something really BAD is happening in the Quallheim and yet the army takes a BOAT to get there, which takes a week, minimum. No. Just no.
I really want to find out how it all comes together in the end. But so far I'm not invested in any of the characters and I can never read more than a couple of chapters before the book flies. Think I'll give this a miss.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2019
A bit of investment required to finish this. The Reality Dysfunction is a monster of a book, boasting more than 1200 pages. It is also a somewhat distressing read. By the time the book hits one third there has been a multitude of uneasy things for the reader to digest. Rape; exploitation; satanic rituals; torture; murder and mutilation (where, in some cases, the victims are children); genocide; injuries inflicted to protagonists that will make the squeamish light-headed; demonic possession… to name but a few. It’s also clear by this time that Hamilton is only getting started. Yes, it’s that kind of book.
It’s riveting stuff though. Hamilton spins a very good yarn and he seems to be one of the few authors who can actually write a story of this magnitude. Looking for a sense-of-wonder fix? Look no further. This is one big story, with a staggering plethora of characters and events surrounding the bigger picture. Yet, it really works. I read Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga before this, even though it was published later, and it’s clear that Hamilton thrives on this kind of thing.
The second half of the book is really where it’s at, with themes like redemption and sacrifice juxtaposed with the despair of the earlier portions. Pity it takes some effort to identify them through all the mayhem.
In conclusion, don’t let the difficult first half put you off, things pick up considerably (and then some) in the second half. Nightmare on Elm Street on a galactic scale – that’s what this is. Now, on to the similarly massive sequel (The Neutronium Alchemist) (or at least, once I gather my wits again).
update
Finishing the trilogy has given me a more holistic perspective.
It’s good stuff all round, and I have rated the books consistently highly, but know this: if you start this you are in it for the long run. These books can not be read as standalone novels. In the end I found the trilogy worthwhile but exhausting. Don't let too much time pass between books. There’s no medal for effort here, but finishing Night’s Dawn is its own reward.
It’s riveting stuff though. Hamilton spins a very good yarn and he seems to be one of the few authors who can actually write a story of this magnitude. Looking for a sense-of-wonder fix? Look no further. This is one big story, with a staggering plethora of characters and events surrounding the bigger picture. Yet, it really works. I read Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga before this, even though it was published later, and it’s clear that Hamilton thrives on this kind of thing.
The second half of the book is really where it’s at, with themes like redemption and sacrifice juxtaposed with the despair of the earlier portions. Pity it takes some effort to identify them through all the mayhem.
In conclusion, don’t let the difficult first half put you off, things pick up considerably (and then some) in the second half. Nightmare on Elm Street on a galactic scale – that’s what this is. Now, on to the similarly massive sequel (The Neutronium Alchemist) (or at least, once I gather my wits again).
update
Finishing the trilogy has given me a more holistic perspective.
It’s good stuff all round, and I have rated the books consistently highly, but know this: if you start this you are in it for the long run. These books can not be read as standalone novels. In the end I found the trilogy worthwhile but exhausting. Don't let too much time pass between books. There’s no medal for effort here, but finishing Night’s Dawn is its own reward.
October 4, 2009
Wow, what to say about this book. It is NOT EASY READING, that's for sure. The first 1/4 almost is like running through a valley of quicksand, but I swear the momentum is worth it. I felt my interest waning sometimes because it is SO DENSE, but then, rather than stopping, I'd skim a bit forward over all the meticulous details of the worlds etc and get back on track with some of the characters. This book requires stamina but if you're into sci-fi is worth the effort. All the thought and imagination that went into this universe is breathtaking, truly beyond anything I could invent. The book definitely gets going at a certain point because you latch onto characters that are fascinating, and once the mystery behind the "invaders" becomes more evident you really can't wait to see what happens, or at least I couldn't. Anyway, for hard Sci-Fi people this is a great recc. Just be prepared for 3000+ pages of fun before the end. Off to book 2!
January 17, 2011
Awesome.
When I went through law school and then bar school I was forced to eject many vital tidbits of information that were taking up valuable space in my brain: my address, my year of birth, etc. I have no idea how Peter F. Hamilton holds all of this massive universe, its technology and characters in one noggin. He clearly does not remember his wife's birthday or his underwear size. We all have to make sacrifices.
The Reality Dysfunction is fun. Lots of fun. I flew through this book and forgave its flaws (there are some useless digressions but heck, I even enjoyed those). The action is incredible, the ideas are grand and the universe is relatively plausible. Hamilton's prose is not necessarily eloquent and sharp, but it is good. The story just powers through that.
I'll address most people's two biggest critiques of Reality Dysfunction. First, yes it's long. The edition sold in Canada is over 1200 pages. Second, some people are disappointed with what the spooky threat ends up being (hereinafter: the "Spolier Bit"). With respect to the length, I'm no editor, but I'm sure this could have been clipped a bit with only a positive result. However, a good story is a good story. I'm over that. With respect to the Spoiler Bit, it's a matter of personal choice. Some like it, some don’t. I know those two comments are not entirely helpful, but my point is that they should not detract from what is a kickass book.
In a nutshell, this is the first book in a huge space opera trilogy. It qualifies as "New Space Opera" with all the verisimilitude in the science that goes along with that relatively new term. The novel is set in the 26th and 27th centuries with much of the story happening in 2610 and 2611 within a group named the Confederation. A handy timeline at the start of the book is not only useful to following during your reading but gives you some background when you start. Humans have split into two groups: Edenists embrace the introduction of biotechnology into the human genome and all the wacky consequences and Adamists stick to mechanical and cybernetic technology. Adamists are less well off to Edenists, a group with is comparable to Iain M. Banks' Culture on some levels. There is a whole chunk of religious, political and technological interest in the book, but the real story comes in the form of an unknown invader that is threatening first a planet in the Confederation and then perhaps even beyond.
I'm very excited to continue onto the next volume, The Neutronium Alchemist.
When I went through law school and then bar school I was forced to eject many vital tidbits of information that were taking up valuable space in my brain: my address, my year of birth, etc. I have no idea how Peter F. Hamilton holds all of this massive universe, its technology and characters in one noggin. He clearly does not remember his wife's birthday or his underwear size. We all have to make sacrifices.
The Reality Dysfunction is fun. Lots of fun. I flew through this book and forgave its flaws (there are some useless digressions but heck, I even enjoyed those). The action is incredible, the ideas are grand and the universe is relatively plausible. Hamilton's prose is not necessarily eloquent and sharp, but it is good. The story just powers through that.
I'll address most people's two biggest critiques of Reality Dysfunction. First, yes it's long. The edition sold in Canada is over 1200 pages. Second, some people are disappointed with what the spooky threat ends up being (hereinafter: the "Spolier Bit"). With respect to the length, I'm no editor, but I'm sure this could have been clipped a bit with only a positive result. However, a good story is a good story. I'm over that. With respect to the Spoiler Bit, it's a matter of personal choice. Some like it, some don’t. I know those two comments are not entirely helpful, but my point is that they should not detract from what is a kickass book.
In a nutshell, this is the first book in a huge space opera trilogy. It qualifies as "New Space Opera" with all the verisimilitude in the science that goes along with that relatively new term. The novel is set in the 26th and 27th centuries with much of the story happening in 2610 and 2611 within a group named the Confederation. A handy timeline at the start of the book is not only useful to following during your reading but gives you some background when you start. Humans have split into two groups: Edenists embrace the introduction of biotechnology into the human genome and all the wacky consequences and Adamists stick to mechanical and cybernetic technology. Adamists are less well off to Edenists, a group with is comparable to Iain M. Banks' Culture on some levels. There is a whole chunk of religious, political and technological interest in the book, but the real story comes in the form of an unknown invader that is threatening first a planet in the Confederation and then perhaps even beyond.
I'm very excited to continue onto the next volume, The Neutronium Alchemist.
May 19, 2014
*sigh*
I wanted to like this. I did. And I liked parts of it a lot, many of the ideas were fascinating, several of the characters I really dug. But there were other issues that hampered my overall enjoyment, and they can't be ignored.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
I wanted to like this. I did. And I liked parts of it a lot, many of the ideas were fascinating, several of the characters I really dug. But there were other issues that hampered my overall enjoyment, and they can't be ignored.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the recent changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
March 2, 2015
I really wanted to like this novel a lot. I wanted to get invested from the sheer length of the novel and come out the other side, saying, "Wow, that was fantastic." Just because I'm not doesn't mean that the novel wasn't worthwhile, it just means that the negative qualities of it managed to outweigh what was good.
Let's face it. A novel that is almost 1500 pages is either full of characters, full of story, or full of meandering and inconsequential shit that didn't really serve the final solid tale. I can sort of see why the planet got so much face time before the crap hit the palm. I can also see why the branches of humanity needed to get so much time as well. What I can't understand is why so much time was devoted to each. I swear, this would have been a fantastic novel with some serious cutting. The action scenes were good. The young captain was thoroughly enjoyable. I didn't even mind the turn of the sci-fi into practical fantasy. It was interesting.
I would have thought it was more interesting at half the total size, too.
Maybe I'm just overcritical and grouchy, but I really got tired of reading this novel in sections and just prayed for my favourite characters to come back.
I think I got spoiled because I had read Leviathan Wakes long before I picked this novel up. I saw a lot of good similarities, but I'd always choose Leviathan over this. Perhaps one day I'll pick up the sequels to this one and pray it gets more fit, but I won't be doing it now.
Let's face it. A novel that is almost 1500 pages is either full of characters, full of story, or full of meandering and inconsequential shit that didn't really serve the final solid tale. I can sort of see why the planet got so much face time before the crap hit the palm. I can also see why the branches of humanity needed to get so much time as well. What I can't understand is why so much time was devoted to each. I swear, this would have been a fantastic novel with some serious cutting. The action scenes were good. The young captain was thoroughly enjoyable. I didn't even mind the turn of the sci-fi into practical fantasy. It was interesting.
I would have thought it was more interesting at half the total size, too.
Maybe I'm just overcritical and grouchy, but I really got tired of reading this novel in sections and just prayed for my favourite characters to come back.
I think I got spoiled because I had read Leviathan Wakes long before I picked this novel up. I saw a lot of good similarities, but I'd always choose Leviathan over this. Perhaps one day I'll pick up the sequels to this one and pray it gets more fit, but I won't be doing it now.
September 2, 2013
I like trash and Hamilton writes the best trash. so elaborate. the dead are coming back to possess the living except it's all science fictional! great world-building. I love world-building when the world being built gets destroyed. in this book, that's a bunch of worlds. plus some cool but corny but still cool sex scenes. Hamilton sure likes his sex scenes. I guess we have that in common.
September 15, 2017
"TL,DR. There are very few SF stories that justify more than 120,000 words."Jo Walton is the best sf books reviewer extant (IMO), as an author she is no slouch either. Unfortunately for her The Reality Dysfunction is the exception that proves the rule, this is one of the "very few SF stories" that she is talking about. Certainly a book this magnitude, clocking on at over 1,200 pages, is dissuasive for many people. If you are interested in reading this book but feel intimidated by the high page count I suggest you treat this one volume book as you would an entire trilogy. Read one third, go read another book, come back read the second third, go read yet another book etc. Don't worry that there are two more gargantuan volumes in the Night Dawn Trilogy, you may not even want to read them! Sandwiching shorter books between long ones work wonders for me. Of course nowadays long novels are in vogue, especially for fantasy novels, clearly books this size is exactly what a lot of readers want.
- Jo Walton's blog on Hugo Nominees: 1998
The Reality Dysfunction is Peter F. Hamilton's breakout book, it established him as the leading exponent of huge sprawling epic space operas. Still, I have to admire the author's gumption in writing a novel of such an uncompromising length, which is certainly not the norm for science fiction. He clearly did not do it for the money, he could have written shorter faster paced books and they probably wold have been easier to get published. He has this huge story to tell and he wants to tell and he will tell it in as many pages as necessary. The success of this book and the series as a whole totally vindicated him. His shorter books are far less popular than his whale size space operas.
The Night Dawn Trilogy is essentially about humanity's fight for survival against invaders from another dimension. The twist is that the invaders are not aliens. To say any more would be venturing into spoiler territory, though if you have read other reviews you probably know what I'm being coy about already. Actually before I read this book somebody told me it is about space zombies, I thought may be it would be something like Dawn of The Dead in space which sounded like a hoot to me though I was surprised such a story could span three elephantine books. Any way, it is not about zombies, there are no zombies in The Reality Dysfunction (I can't speak for subsequent volumes at this point but I doubt the zoms will show up), but I now understand the oversimplification.
As he is working on such a huge canvas Hamilton takes time to setup his pieces, worldbuilding, characters developing (so damn many of them), and meticulous plotting. For the first 300 or so pages I had no idea where the story is going, or who the main protagonists or antagonists are. The book is not hard to follow though, Hamilton has a clear clean prose style, not much in the way of lyricism but the more prosaic style is more practical for this kind of epic space opera I think. There are already so many worlds, species, people and cultures to introduce without further befuddling the readers with a poetic narrative. The author saves his inventiveness for his creations, living organic spaceships, cities, houses, all kinds of weird gadgets, and more alien and strange creatures than you can shake a stick at. This book is also, to some extent, a sci-fi/horror mash up, there are scenes of supernatural horror that I did not expect to find in a space opera. A lesser author would probably make the whole thing ridiculous but Hamilton is no ordinary author and he made it work. This book is also, to some extent, a sci-fi/horror mash up, there are scenes of supernatural horror that I did not expect to find in a space opera. A lesser author would probably make the whole thing ridiculous but Hamilton is no ordinary author and he made it work.
As mentioned earlier there is a huge cast of characters and sometime it is hard to remember who is who, but he does return to a few main characters more than others. Many of the characters tend to be archetypes, the evil charismatic genius sociopath, the rebellious teenager straight off a daytime soap who gets more than she bargained for, the bad boy turned good etc. Characterization is not one of the strengths of this book, though the characters are not so flat as to leave you with no one to root for or want dead. There are also a lot of sex scenes in this book which I don't find particularly sexy or relevant to the story, certainly this is not a book to read to your children.
The book is longer than it needs to be, but not by too much; cutting down on the unnecessary sex scenes would probably shear off a centimetre or so from the book's thickness. But Hamilton makes it all worthwhile by the explosive end of this first volume where a small group of characters win a minor victory for humanity. The war itself has just begun of course.
If you have never read Peter F. Hamilton before I would recommend reading Pandora's Star first. This is the start of an entirely different series which he wrote some years later than this book, it is better written, more refined, and the characters are better developed. Still, if you insist on The Reality Dysfunction as your first Hamilton I doubt you will regret the decision. I am certainly going to read the next obese volume The Neutronium Alchemist. Damn you Mr. Hamilton, you are practically monopolizing my reading time!
Update December 2013: Just read The Neutronium Alchemist (my review) it is a substantial improvement on The Reality Dysfunction. I particularly enjoy the chapters from the possessed people’s point of view.
April 7, 2020
Part of my 2020 Social Distancing Read-a-thon
Well, that was a lot of reading for very little joy. This is the second book by this author that I've read and both of them in my opinion were way too long and had rather ridiculous plot elements. This novel had so many characters to keep track of and so many intertwining plot lines that I couldn't set the book down for very long or I would lose the thread.
It's too bad because I thought there were tons of good ideas in the course of things. For example, the sentient habitats and spaceships, biological rather than AI. Those reminded me of Iain Banks' Culture books, the AI Minds that populate that universe. The alternation between Tranquility habitat and the rough pioneer world of Lalonde made me think of Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.
What I have trouble with is thinking that there will still be Earth-based religions in 2520. I certainly think that Satanism will have been left far behind by then. Maybe Buddhism will survive, but surely we will have outgrown the other belief systems.
I know I've set myself a mission to read most of the books on the list that I've devised, but there are 2 more volumes in this series and they are every bit as long as this one. I just can't face them. I had difficulty finishing this one. This is it, folks, I'm not reading any further.
Book number 360 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project
Well, that was a lot of reading for very little joy. This is the second book by this author that I've read and both of them in my opinion were way too long and had rather ridiculous plot elements. This novel had so many characters to keep track of and so many intertwining plot lines that I couldn't set the book down for very long or I would lose the thread.
It's too bad because I thought there were tons of good ideas in the course of things. For example, the sentient habitats and spaceships, biological rather than AI. Those reminded me of Iain Banks' Culture books, the AI Minds that populate that universe. The alternation between Tranquility habitat and the rough pioneer world of Lalonde made me think of Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.
What I have trouble with is thinking that there will still be Earth-based religions in 2520. I certainly think that Satanism will have been left far behind by then. Maybe Buddhism will survive, but surely we will have outgrown the other belief systems.
I know I've set myself a mission to read most of the books on the list that I've devised, but there are 2 more volumes in this series and they are every bit as long as this one. I just can't face them. I had difficulty finishing this one. This is it, folks, I'm not reading any further.
Book number 360 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project
March 9, 2015
Warning: this is NOT science fiction, it's Christian fantasy disguised as Radical Hard SF. It starts out as a fairly ripping space opera with some clever worldbuilding, but then somewhere around page 700, a Satanic ritual conjures forth the souls of the deceased from the Afterlife into our universe. YES I'M SERIOUS! One of the few books I've ever literally thrown across the room in disgust. I sold the book back to the used bookstore from whence I bought it, but in retrospect, I deeply regret not keeping it by my toilet so I could tear out pages to wipe my ass with.
Fuck you, Hamilton.
Fuck you, Hamilton.
April 18, 2017
Vai… Înspăimântătoare a mai fost povestea asta. Înspăimântătoare, violentă, șocantă, năucitoare și halucinantă.
Mi-e imposibil să rezum multitudinea de fire narative împletite atât de ingenios de către Hamilton. In principiu, peste aproximativ 500 de ani, omenirea a evadat din limitele Pământului suprapopulat și s-a împrăștiat printre stele, întemeind colonii pe lumi aflate la sute de mii de ani lumină. Dar pe una dintre aceste planete colonii, Lalonde, Răul pândește lacom lumea celor vii și își așteaptă chemarea. Încet, încet, ceva groaznic preia controlul fizic al coloniștilor de pe Lalonde, împrăștiindu-se cu o viteza amețitoare și amenințând nu doar omenirea ci chiar esența vieții inteligente. Și cum poți lupta cu ceva ce depășește rațiunea, ceva ce acționează după alte reguli decât cele ale universului fizic?
Trebuie să recunosc că în primele 400-500 de pagini, n-aveam idee în ce direcție o va lua povestea: zeci de personaje, nenumărate planete, habitate vii, intrigi politice, conflicte tacite între diferite sisteme religioase, nave spațiale legate pe viață de căpitanii lor, arme ce au puterea de a distruge planete... Iar ceea ce a urmat... vai: satanism, exorcizări, crime, violuri, torturi, , mercenari amplificați fizic și genetic, lupte spațiale, lumi noi și specii extraterestre inteligente; e destul de dificil să ții pasul cu ritmul acțiunii și complexitatea universului creat de Hamilton.
Pe de altă parte, dacă universul din Disfuncția realității este pur și simplu incredibil, personajele, chiar și cele principale, lasă de dorit. De exemplu, îl avem pe "fermecătorul" căpitan Joshua Calvert căruia nu-i poate rezista nici o femeie și care iese întreg din orice situație, Syrinx, căpitanul șoimului-de-vid Oenone (și a căror legătura este una dintre cele mai emoționante și minunate creații din toată cartea), Ione Saldana, Lordul Ruinelor și coordonatoarea Seninătății și... și cam atât, restul personajelor se pierd în vâltoarea acțiunii. Ca să nu mai spun de misoginismul nu prea subtil care învăluie întreaga poveste. Dar poate caut eu nod în papură, lumea lui Hamilton este cu siguranță originală și terifiantă; parcă mi-e și teamă de ce voi găsi în volumul doi.
Mi-e imposibil să rezum multitudinea de fire narative împletite atât de ingenios de către Hamilton. In principiu, peste aproximativ 500 de ani, omenirea a evadat din limitele Pământului suprapopulat și s-a împrăștiat printre stele, întemeind colonii pe lumi aflate la sute de mii de ani lumină. Dar pe una dintre aceste planete colonii, Lalonde, Răul pândește lacom lumea celor vii și își așteaptă chemarea. Încet, încet, ceva groaznic preia controlul fizic al coloniștilor de pe Lalonde, împrăștiindu-se cu o viteza amețitoare și amenințând nu doar omenirea ci chiar esența vieții inteligente. Și cum poți lupta cu ceva ce depășește rațiunea, ceva ce acționează după alte reguli decât cele ale universului fizic?
Trebuie să recunosc că în primele 400-500 de pagini, n-aveam idee în ce direcție o va lua povestea: zeci de personaje, nenumărate planete, habitate vii, intrigi politice, conflicte tacite între diferite sisteme religioase, nave spațiale legate pe viață de căpitanii lor, arme ce au puterea de a distruge planete... Iar ceea ce a urmat... vai: satanism, exorcizări, crime, violuri, torturi, , mercenari amplificați fizic și genetic, lupte spațiale, lumi noi și specii extraterestre inteligente; e destul de dificil să ții pasul cu ritmul acțiunii și complexitatea universului creat de Hamilton.
Pe de altă parte, dacă universul din Disfuncția realității este pur și simplu incredibil, personajele, chiar și cele principale, lasă de dorit. De exemplu, îl avem pe "fermecătorul" căpitan Joshua Calvert căruia nu-i poate rezista nici o femeie și care iese întreg din orice situație, Syrinx, căpitanul șoimului-de-vid Oenone (și a căror legătura este una dintre cele mai emoționante și minunate creații din toată cartea), Ione Saldana, Lordul Ruinelor și coordonatoarea Seninătății și... și cam atât, restul personajelor se pierd în vâltoarea acțiunii. Ca să nu mai spun de misoginismul nu prea subtil care învăluie întreaga poveste. Dar poate caut eu nod în papură, lumea lui Hamilton este cu siguranță originală și terifiantă; parcă mi-e și teamă de ce voi găsi în volumul doi.
June 27, 2021
Look, there were plenty of times in my reading journey of the past few years when I suffered a long time with a long and bad book. However, that book was usually, like, Proust. I got absolutely nothing from reading this 1200-page piece of trash except the satisfaction of knowing that a book I bought in a ‘read all the classic sci-fi’ fever almost twenty years ago is now read. (I also assumed it was ‘hard’ sci-fi, a genre I tend to avoid, yet the threads on here consistently refer to it as ‘space opera’. I’m going to nope that simply because I don’t want this disgusting shit-pile in my nice space opera space.)
And, after all that, I don’t even know if Peter F. Hamilton even rates as a top gun sci-fi author these days. I was sucked in by the cover tag line of ‘Britain’s number one science-fiction author’, which, in 1996, might well have been true. I mean – that he was considered such. Because his writing was a misogynistic trash fire in 1996, but perhaps the genre wasn’t as extensive then as it is now.
There’s a lot of characters and plot arcs going on in this novel, but it’s really about two contrasting male characters. There’s Joshua Calvert, who is a Sex God. He can do sex super well, you guys. He even MAKES WOMAN ORGASM. I know, I know, what a stud. Every single woman he meets is hot for him in 27 seconds, although he sticks to ‘barely-legal teens’. This is fortunate, because the book’s entire female population is barely-legal teens. Ione: eighteen. Marie: seventeen. Louise: sixteen. The nominal ‘adults’ – Kelly and Dominique – are about twenty-five. What I’m saying is that Joshua is Leonardo di Caprio, and so is everyone else.
“Joshua got very grumpy when [Ione] spent the first evening reviewing Tranquillity’s summaries of the incredible public reaction rather than spending it in bed with him.”
WHAT A GUY. IONE’S JUST PULLED OFF HER FIRST POLITICAL VICTORY AS LEADER OF A PLANET AND HE’S LIKE WAAAAH MY DICK THO.
“Joshua wasn’t used to children that age, in his opinion she was a spoilt brat who needed a damn good smack.”
To be clear: this girl is fourteen. Her sister, whom Joshua coerces into dubcon sex soon after, is SIXTEEN. So: ALSO A CHILD.
About their mother: “a figure which showed that even Louise had still got quite a way to go yet.” UGH. UGH. UGH. SIXTEEN!
Joshua is also magical and I mean this literally. He has psychic woo-woo powers. For a sci-fic classic, this book coolly steals a lot of tropes from fantasy, YA, and, er, Christian fiction. Which brings me to Quinn Dexter, or the dark side of Joshua’s moon. Quinn is strictly speaking bisexual, although the way he’s portrayed here leads me to seriously consider that Hamilton meant him to be a straightforward Evil Gay who only has sex with women for material gain or as a method of torture. In this whole massive tome, there is not one single other queer character. Quinn is the only one, and his sexual ‘deviance’ – rape, rape-as-torture, and Satanic sex rituals – is explicitly linked to his sexuality. It’s like Dune, only worse.
“ ‘Forget it, Quinn,’ Jackson said in a neutral voice, but one that carried in the silence following the rain. ‘I don’t turn to that. Strictly het, OK?’ It came out like a challenge.”
NO HOMO!!!
“He’s going to break a lot of female hearts, that one, she thought proudly.” In 2600.
Quinn is expelled from Earth for being a Satanist. No, really. It’s even funnier because the book is set in 2600 CE. There’s a fuckton of 1996-specific issues that are still issues in 2600, like Judeo-Christian religion and, checks notes, misogyny.
So Joshua does some Hot Girl shit by finding cool archeology stuff from an ancient, disappeared civilisation (remember I said Hamilton rips of fantasy tropes wholesale?). He makes enough money from this to do up his dad’s spaceship. He then fulfils his dream of becoming, er, the space equivalent of a long-distance lorry driver? You do you, bro. One of his Bezos-level deals involves trading fancy whiskey on one planet for fancy wood on another. I’m not kidding.
The wood planet is Lalonde, which is where Quinn is shipped as part of his penal servitude. Hamilton refers to ‘penal planets’ as well in this book, but never delves into how this works in practice. Like all Hamilton’s philosophy, it’s gross and highly questionable. Quinn stages a quiet revolution among his fellow bonded workslaves using Satanism, which seems to be an analogue for Communism as well. (Communism, Satanism, evisceration, they’re all the same, right?) Coincidentally, a magical plague-virus thing explodes on the planet at the same time, which allows loads of dead souls stuck in Purgatory to come back and possess the bodies of the living. The dead also picked up the ability to shut down electronic devices for Reasons. If this sounds very, very stupid, it’s because it is.
Joshua becomes involved in a rescue mission to the planet and Quinn skips town to spread the virus further. That’s where the book ends, and I honestly don’t care if this entire universe dies in the end. It deserves to.
Here is a run-down of the eye-bleeding sexism on display at all times. Literally, a woman cannot exist in this universe without some dude objectifying her.
On page five, guys: “One person who genuinely didn’t seem to mind the fact that she was brighter than him – and they were rare enough.”
“When [Syrinx] was seventeen she had a month-long affaire with Aulie, who was forty-four”.
Oh great, in 2600 CE we’re still doing that too.
“Given their life expectancy, large age gaps were common among Edenist partners, but a hundred years was pushing the limits of propriety.”
UM, HOW DOES THAT FOLLOW? Surely people who’ve evolved to live longer can afford to learn better about this shit?
“The name Marie Skibbow was printed along the top; an attractive teenage girl smiled rebelliously at him from her hologram. Her parents were in for a few years of hell, he decided.”
If you think seventeen-year-olds should be punished for ‘rebellious smiling’, and specifically with multiple rapes, torture, and death, then you will really enjoy this book.
“You wait for the girls to climax, you want them to enjoy it. You make them enjoy it. That’s very rare, very bold.”
Female orgasms are still so rare in 2600 CE that this mind-reading entity can only find one dude on her entire planet who provides them. Sign me up.
“The waitresses were young, pretty, and wore revealing black dresses.”
No female/queer gaze here! No sirree!
“ ‘I’m honoured, ma’am,’ Parker Higgens said; he had come very close to blurting but you’re a girl.”
On Cricklade “[…] someone of equal wealth would have his own estate and she would be expected to live there.” And women don’t go to university on this whole planet.
“Amazing how many women become technocrats around childbirth time.”
Amazing. Yeah.
“That girl, though: teenaged, long limbed, large breasted, exquisite face, bronzed, strong. […] A girl like that was a walking gang-bang invitation.”
Note where on the list her FACE comes.
“I would like you to have a child. You are feeling incomplete.”
NO SHE’S JUST 18 YEARS OLD.
“Really? You should abolish incest. I could find out for myself then.”
THIS IS NOT NORMAL OR OKAY JESUS CHRIST PETE.
A word about the actual science in this fiction. Some of it is mildly interesting, although splitting the human race into ‘Edenists’ who can upload themselves into their spaceships and thus become ‘immortal’ (for a given value of immortal) versus ‘Adamists’ who …don’t, is stupid on many levels, but especially that of nomenclature. Adam LIVED in the Garden of Eden? ‘Biotechnology’ is condensed to ‘bitek’ throughout, which made me think ‘bitteck’ rather than ‘biotech’, and is Bad. I also have QUESTIONS about neural nanonics. They are brain plug-ins that can override emotions like pain and fear – but who decides when and how? No one with a nanonic insert ever describes the implantation and why they decided ‘I must never allow anyone to see me cry, over-ride all tears at all times’. Finally, the ‘sequestration’ initially ignores children because there’s enough adult souls to satisfy the Purgatorial immigrants, but later Shaun Wallace contradicts this. So which is it? (I don’t actually care, you understand, I’m just pointing out massive flaws in the plot.)
Also. Apparently in 2020, we are mining the moon. That was pretty funny.
And, after all that, I don’t even know if Peter F. Hamilton even rates as a top gun sci-fi author these days. I was sucked in by the cover tag line of ‘Britain’s number one science-fiction author’, which, in 1996, might well have been true. I mean – that he was considered such. Because his writing was a misogynistic trash fire in 1996, but perhaps the genre wasn’t as extensive then as it is now.
There’s a lot of characters and plot arcs going on in this novel, but it’s really about two contrasting male characters. There’s Joshua Calvert, who is a Sex God. He can do sex super well, you guys. He even MAKES WOMAN ORGASM. I know, I know, what a stud. Every single woman he meets is hot for him in 27 seconds, although he sticks to ‘barely-legal teens’. This is fortunate, because the book’s entire female population is barely-legal teens. Ione: eighteen. Marie: seventeen. Louise: sixteen. The nominal ‘adults’ – Kelly and Dominique – are about twenty-five. What I’m saying is that Joshua is Leonardo di Caprio, and so is everyone else.
“Joshua got very grumpy when [Ione] spent the first evening reviewing Tranquillity’s summaries of the incredible public reaction rather than spending it in bed with him.”
WHAT A GUY. IONE’S JUST PULLED OFF HER FIRST POLITICAL VICTORY AS LEADER OF A PLANET AND HE’S LIKE WAAAAH MY DICK THO.
“Joshua wasn’t used to children that age, in his opinion she was a spoilt brat who needed a damn good smack.”
To be clear: this girl is fourteen. Her sister, whom Joshua coerces into dubcon sex soon after, is SIXTEEN. So: ALSO A CHILD.
About their mother: “a figure which showed that even Louise had still got quite a way to go yet.” UGH. UGH. UGH. SIXTEEN!
Joshua is also magical and I mean this literally. He has psychic woo-woo powers. For a sci-fic classic, this book coolly steals a lot of tropes from fantasy, YA, and, er, Christian fiction. Which brings me to Quinn Dexter, or the dark side of Joshua’s moon. Quinn is strictly speaking bisexual, although the way he’s portrayed here leads me to seriously consider that Hamilton meant him to be a straightforward Evil Gay who only has sex with women for material gain or as a method of torture. In this whole massive tome, there is not one single other queer character. Quinn is the only one, and his sexual ‘deviance’ – rape, rape-as-torture, and Satanic sex rituals – is explicitly linked to his sexuality. It’s like Dune, only worse.
“ ‘Forget it, Quinn,’ Jackson said in a neutral voice, but one that carried in the silence following the rain. ‘I don’t turn to that. Strictly het, OK?’ It came out like a challenge.”
NO HOMO!!!
“He’s going to break a lot of female hearts, that one, she thought proudly.” In 2600.
Quinn is expelled from Earth for being a Satanist. No, really. It’s even funnier because the book is set in 2600 CE. There’s a fuckton of 1996-specific issues that are still issues in 2600, like Judeo-Christian religion and, checks notes, misogyny.
So Joshua does some Hot Girl shit by finding cool archeology stuff from an ancient, disappeared civilisation (remember I said Hamilton rips of fantasy tropes wholesale?). He makes enough money from this to do up his dad’s spaceship. He then fulfils his dream of becoming, er, the space equivalent of a long-distance lorry driver? You do you, bro. One of his Bezos-level deals involves trading fancy whiskey on one planet for fancy wood on another. I’m not kidding.
The wood planet is Lalonde, which is where Quinn is shipped as part of his penal servitude. Hamilton refers to ‘penal planets’ as well in this book, but never delves into how this works in practice. Like all Hamilton’s philosophy, it’s gross and highly questionable. Quinn stages a quiet revolution among his fellow bonded workslaves using Satanism, which seems to be an analogue for Communism as well. (Communism, Satanism, evisceration, they’re all the same, right?) Coincidentally, a magical plague-virus thing explodes on the planet at the same time, which allows loads of dead souls stuck in Purgatory to come back and possess the bodies of the living. The dead also picked up the ability to shut down electronic devices for Reasons. If this sounds very, very stupid, it’s because it is.
Joshua becomes involved in a rescue mission to the planet and Quinn skips town to spread the virus further. That’s where the book ends, and I honestly don’t care if this entire universe dies in the end. It deserves to.
Here is a run-down of the eye-bleeding sexism on display at all times. Literally, a woman cannot exist in this universe without some dude objectifying her.
On page five, guys: “One person who genuinely didn’t seem to mind the fact that she was brighter than him – and they were rare enough.”
“When [Syrinx] was seventeen she had a month-long affaire with Aulie, who was forty-four”.
Oh great, in 2600 CE we’re still doing that too.
“Given their life expectancy, large age gaps were common among Edenist partners, but a hundred years was pushing the limits of propriety.”
UM, HOW DOES THAT FOLLOW? Surely people who’ve evolved to live longer can afford to learn better about this shit?
“The name Marie Skibbow was printed along the top; an attractive teenage girl smiled rebelliously at him from her hologram. Her parents were in for a few years of hell, he decided.”
If you think seventeen-year-olds should be punished for ‘rebellious smiling’, and specifically with multiple rapes, torture, and death, then you will really enjoy this book.
“You wait for the girls to climax, you want them to enjoy it. You make them enjoy it. That’s very rare, very bold.”
Female orgasms are still so rare in 2600 CE that this mind-reading entity can only find one dude on her entire planet who provides them. Sign me up.
“The waitresses were young, pretty, and wore revealing black dresses.”
No female/queer gaze here! No sirree!
“ ‘I’m honoured, ma’am,’ Parker Higgens said; he had come very close to blurting but you’re a girl.”
On Cricklade “[…] someone of equal wealth would have his own estate and she would be expected to live there.” And women don’t go to university on this whole planet.
“Amazing how many women become technocrats around childbirth time.”
Amazing. Yeah.
“That girl, though: teenaged, long limbed, large breasted, exquisite face, bronzed, strong. […] A girl like that was a walking gang-bang invitation.”
Note where on the list her FACE comes.
“I would like you to have a child. You are feeling incomplete.”
NO SHE’S JUST 18 YEARS OLD.
“Really? You should abolish incest. I could find out for myself then.”
THIS IS NOT NORMAL OR OKAY JESUS CHRIST PETE.
A word about the actual science in this fiction. Some of it is mildly interesting, although splitting the human race into ‘Edenists’ who can upload themselves into their spaceships and thus become ‘immortal’ (for a given value of immortal) versus ‘Adamists’ who …don’t, is stupid on many levels, but especially that of nomenclature. Adam LIVED in the Garden of Eden? ‘Biotechnology’ is condensed to ‘bitek’ throughout, which made me think ‘bitteck’ rather than ‘biotech’, and is Bad. I also have QUESTIONS about neural nanonics. They are brain plug-ins that can override emotions like pain and fear – but who decides when and how? No one with a nanonic insert ever describes the implantation and why they decided ‘I must never allow anyone to see me cry, over-ride all tears at all times’. Finally, the ‘sequestration’ initially ignores children because there’s enough adult souls to satisfy the Purgatorial immigrants, but later Shaun Wallace contradicts this. So which is it? (I don’t actually care, you understand, I’m just pointing out massive flaws in the plot.)
Also. Apparently in 2020, we are mining the moon. That was pretty funny.
November 9, 2009
It took a hell of a long time, but I've made it through The Reality Dysfunction, the first volume in a trilogy recommended to me by Ennis. It's a "space opera" about a futuristic society plagued by an evil force that "sequestrates," or maybe just possesses, people.
The story takes place in the Confederation in the 2600s. The set-up is quite detailed and interesting. One group, the Adamists, lives on a failing planet Earth and various other planets. The Adamists are mostly like the people of today, but with neural implants that allow them to "datavise" or communicate directly with computers. They have starships and nuclear weapons and whatnot. Another group, the Edenists, has a different kind of technology that is organic. Edenists have genetic changes that allow them to have an affinity bond with each other and with their habitats, which are miniplanets made entirely of organic matter. This bond allows them to share thoughts and feelings inside their own heads, without speaking, and to see through other people's eyes. They also have spaceships that are organic and have personalities and memories. When Edenists die, the intangible part of them is absorbed into the habitat. The distinction between the two groups is essentially religious; they trade and coexist more or less peacefully.
The plot of the book revolves around a new planet, Lalonde, which is being settled under a Dutch East India Company-esque scheme. Colonists have bought in, and come from Earth or other failing urban planets to farm. We see a group of the colonists struggling to get their village, Aberdale, up and running. This is fresh stuff--after all, in sci-fi like Star Wars and Firefly, the farmers are just there as redshirts or comic relief. However, an evil force appears on the planet and begins to take over villages and people in a mysterious way. The book has a huge number of characters, including Joshua "Self-Insert" Calvert, a strapping starship captain with remarkable sexual and technical skills, and many female figures that are almost characterized well enough for you to be able to tell them apart. There is a planet with a culture nostalgic for 19th century England and a bunch of marines who have huge machine guns welded to their forearms. So while Lalonde turns out to be central to the plot, it doesn't dominate in terms of number of pages. There is a lot going on here, and some if it must pertain to the later volumes of the trilogy, since it doesn't pan out in this one.
This book is either rather good or completely terrible. The author is certainly inventive, but I often had occasion to wish that he'd handed over his ideas to someone else to write. The pacing here is frustrating. At times, he is so enamored of discussing planetary trajectories and technology that you wonder if you will ever see a sentient being again. There seems to be little structure governing the arrangement of scenes. There are problems with the POV. You'll be reading about Person A doing something from the point of view of Person B, watching them from 20 yards away. Then all of a sudden you're in Person A's head. Or, scenes of a space battle cut back and forth between the POVs of people in different, even opposing spaceships, with no notice. This problem is so basic to telling a story that I'd expect even a novice to avoid it instinctually.
The novel is quite long and there are two volumes left. In the end, I feel about it the way I did about A Game of Thrones. It has its good and bad points, and I thought I was intrigued enough by the plot to read the sequels, but I never did. We'll see about this one.
The story takes place in the Confederation in the 2600s. The set-up is quite detailed and interesting. One group, the Adamists, lives on a failing planet Earth and various other planets. The Adamists are mostly like the people of today, but with neural implants that allow them to "datavise" or communicate directly with computers. They have starships and nuclear weapons and whatnot. Another group, the Edenists, has a different kind of technology that is organic. Edenists have genetic changes that allow them to have an affinity bond with each other and with their habitats, which are miniplanets made entirely of organic matter. This bond allows them to share thoughts and feelings inside their own heads, without speaking, and to see through other people's eyes. They also have spaceships that are organic and have personalities and memories. When Edenists die, the intangible part of them is absorbed into the habitat. The distinction between the two groups is essentially religious; they trade and coexist more or less peacefully.
The plot of the book revolves around a new planet, Lalonde, which is being settled under a Dutch East India Company-esque scheme. Colonists have bought in, and come from Earth or other failing urban planets to farm. We see a group of the colonists struggling to get their village, Aberdale, up and running. This is fresh stuff--after all, in sci-fi like Star Wars and Firefly, the farmers are just there as redshirts or comic relief. However, an evil force appears on the planet and begins to take over villages and people in a mysterious way. The book has a huge number of characters, including Joshua "Self-Insert" Calvert, a strapping starship captain with remarkable sexual and technical skills, and many female figures that are almost characterized well enough for you to be able to tell them apart. There is a planet with a culture nostalgic for 19th century England and a bunch of marines who have huge machine guns welded to their forearms. So while Lalonde turns out to be central to the plot, it doesn't dominate in terms of number of pages. There is a lot going on here, and some if it must pertain to the later volumes of the trilogy, since it doesn't pan out in this one.
This book is either rather good or completely terrible. The author is certainly inventive, but I often had occasion to wish that he'd handed over his ideas to someone else to write. The pacing here is frustrating. At times, he is so enamored of discussing planetary trajectories and technology that you wonder if you will ever see a sentient being again. There seems to be little structure governing the arrangement of scenes. There are problems with the POV. You'll be reading about Person A doing something from the point of view of Person B, watching them from 20 yards away. Then all of a sudden you're in Person A's head. Or, scenes of a space battle cut back and forth between the POVs of people in different, even opposing spaceships, with no notice. This problem is so basic to telling a story that I'd expect even a novice to avoid it instinctually.
The novel is quite long and there are two volumes left. In the end, I feel about it the way I did about A Game of Thrones. It has its good and bad points, and I thought I was intrigued enough by the plot to read the sequels, but I never did. We'll see about this one.
November 2, 2009
This is the worst-written book I've ever read twice. Hamilton is not just a bad writer but a bad writer in a hurry--superabundantly verbose, careless about style and tone, overdescriptive, flaccidly repetitive, malapropistic when he isn't spouting tired old cliches. He's a lousy scene-painter, too, careless about details and how they fit together and given to commencing every descriptive paragraph with the physical dimensions of whatever is being described--twenty kilometers long and weighing nine hundred thousand tonnes, that kind of thing. None of his visions is in the least original, none of his ideas are new or even newly crafted. His basic premise--dead souls returning from the afterlife, defying the laws of physics by means of a conveniently-named 'reality dysfunction' to sieze the bodies of the living and possess them--abounds with metaphysical inconsistenies and scientific impossibilities. And his sex scenes, gratuitously introduced whenever he feels the action is flagging a bit, make signally unpleasant reading. Women, in particular, may feel the need to take a shower after a few pages of being pleasured by Hamilton's priapic heroes and villains.
There is also a vast oversupply of pornoviolence, most of which I skipped.
All of which begs the question of why I have just re-read this book and its sequel volume with great enjoyment, and am now halfway through the final book in the trilogy.
I suppose it helps that the Night's Dawn trilogy is action-packed, spectacular space opera, and that bad as the writing is, it is also compelling: you just devour it, ugly bits and all, you're so eager to learn what happens next. The multiple storylines, though mostly absurd, are still humdingers. There are hundreds of characters and the principal ones, walking cliches though they be, are engaging enough to keep you interested. The dozens of subplots twist and turn all over the place, and if the outcome of no scene is ever in doubt, Hamilton still manages to spring a surprise or two to keep us interested.
But all these are just self-justifications, really. I consider myself a literary gourmet, and this book is a bit like junk food--tasty in a crude way, unwholesome and empty of real nourishment. Yet even a gourmet may relish a Big Mac once in a way.
There is also a vast oversupply of pornoviolence, most of which I skipped.
All of which begs the question of why I have just re-read this book and its sequel volume with great enjoyment, and am now halfway through the final book in the trilogy.
I suppose it helps that the Night's Dawn trilogy is action-packed, spectacular space opera, and that bad as the writing is, it is also compelling: you just devour it, ugly bits and all, you're so eager to learn what happens next. The multiple storylines, though mostly absurd, are still humdingers. There are hundreds of characters and the principal ones, walking cliches though they be, are engaging enough to keep you interested. The dozens of subplots twist and turn all over the place, and if the outcome of no scene is ever in doubt, Hamilton still manages to spring a surprise or two to keep us interested.
But all these are just self-justifications, really. I consider myself a literary gourmet, and this book is a bit like junk food--tasty in a crude way, unwholesome and empty of real nourishment. Yet even a gourmet may relish a Big Mac once in a way.
October 31, 2007
Ah, the Night’s Dawn Trilogy. One of the most amazing, wild space opera’s ever written. In the UK it is 3 massive books, while here in the US they nickel-and-dimed us by splitting them up into 6. It doesn’t really matter though, because it is not so much a trilogy as it is one gigantic continuous story, regardless of where they are split. One book ends at whatever chapter, and the following book simply begins at the next.
Peter Hamilton is probably my favorite SF writer when it comes to world building and action. In this series, he skillfully synthesizes the best aspects of cyberpunk, space opera and even horror, and creates tons of different planets, each one vivid and unique. He has a knack for describing some minor detail like the local economy of a big city planet or the landscape of some frontier world colony that brings the scene to life in the reader’s imagination.
After creating this very high-tech universe, a supernatural element is introduced to the story (I highly recommend that anyone interested in this series avoid reading any plot synopses on the books). While I am generally extremely averse to anything resembling magic in my SF, Hamilton pulls it off. The magical element is described in a very scientific manner, making it more palatable, and the SF elements are enough to send me into multiple geekgasms.
I should mention that the first 60 pages or so are a tad difficult to get into, but after that it just begins to flow. Additionally, I must admit that the sex sometimes comes off as a tad juvenile. And finally, I hate to say it, but the ending is kind of anticlimactic. However, the ride is so amazing that any of these downsides are far overshadowed.
While this is not primarily an action story, when it does first hit at around 200 or so pages in, it is some of the most enthralling I have read. Only Neal Asher has come close to matching Hamilton in conveying the kind of kinetic, over-the-top action contained in this story.
Peter Hamilton is probably my favorite SF writer when it comes to world building and action. In this series, he skillfully synthesizes the best aspects of cyberpunk, space opera and even horror, and creates tons of different planets, each one vivid and unique. He has a knack for describing some minor detail like the local economy of a big city planet or the landscape of some frontier world colony that brings the scene to life in the reader’s imagination.
After creating this very high-tech universe, a supernatural element is introduced to the story (I highly recommend that anyone interested in this series avoid reading any plot synopses on the books). While I am generally extremely averse to anything resembling magic in my SF, Hamilton pulls it off. The magical element is described in a very scientific manner, making it more palatable, and the SF elements are enough to send me into multiple geekgasms.
I should mention that the first 60 pages or so are a tad difficult to get into, but after that it just begins to flow. Additionally, I must admit that the sex sometimes comes off as a tad juvenile. And finally, I hate to say it, but the ending is kind of anticlimactic. However, the ride is so amazing that any of these downsides are far overshadowed.
While this is not primarily an action story, when it does first hit at around 200 or so pages in, it is some of the most enthralling I have read. Only Neal Asher has come close to matching Hamilton in conveying the kind of kinetic, over-the-top action contained in this story.
December 27, 2018
Great world building, action packed, stunning concepts and the most beautiful creature-ships ever imagined: the Voidhawks
June 23, 2023
It's done! I was not expecting some of the horror elements in this book to be as prevalent as they are. I think there's really only two things holding it back from full 5 star territory and that's how long the book takes to get going and how weirdly horny it is in the first half. Otherwise it just really went for it with crazy stuff. Good action, epic worldbuilding, mystery, horror, and good characters even if maybe the cast is a little big and you won't click with everyone. Overall I'm very into this now and I'll finish the trilogy by the end of the year.
April 17, 2022
Good news for white cishet dudes who are into segregation and racial purity. Also in the future, most of you will be issued harems. There are some neat ideas in here, and I love the affinity-bonded relationships with bitek (biotech) ships and habitats. I'm curious about what ended the decimated alien civilization that left the ruins, too, but not enough to hack my way through this. Notes / highlights follow my progression from mild consternation about the race and gender stuff ...through sexual violence and female characters defined by their biology, and sexualizing kids... to much more than mild consternation. This post and this one do a pretty handy job of articulating the things I couldn't get past. (Also, and next to those issues it is a mere quibble, but there is no writer more committed to giving measurements of every. physical. object. the reader encounters.)
There are so many better examples of expansive, centuries-spanning space opera that manage to do those things without all the WTF.
CW for
UPDATE to add: When I wrote that there is no writer more committed to endless measurements of physical objects, I had not yet encountered Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
There are so many better examples of expansive, centuries-spanning space opera that manage to do those things without all the WTF.
CW for
UPDATE to add: When I wrote that there is no writer more committed to endless measurements of physical objects, I had not yet encountered Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
July 7, 2010
Unfortunately The Night's Dawn trilogy is a huge, festering shamble where a few nuggets of interesting story is drowned in a horribly over-long stream of irrelevant and meandering side- and subplots. It starts off ok, focusing on just one plotline, which leads up to a rather nice "?" moment, but then it seems like Hamilton lost all his marbles because the story loses all focus and coherence, and the only thing that kept me painfully reading the last 4000 pages was to find out how in the world he would be able to tie everything together in the end (which, regrettably turned out to be a big fizzling anticlimactic Deus Ex Machina disappointment).
His male characters have an unfortunate tendency to be rather flat and Mary Sue-ish, and he can't really write female characters at all, but his vivid imagination makes for at least potentially interesting stories IMO. Too bad you have to plough your way through thousands of pages of irrelevant fluff to get to the good parts.
His male characters have an unfortunate tendency to be rather flat and Mary Sue-ish, and he can't really write female characters at all, but his vivid imagination makes for at least potentially interesting stories IMO. Too bad you have to plough your way through thousands of pages of irrelevant fluff to get to the good parts.
September 19, 2016
4 Stars
Reality Dysfunction by Peter Hamilton stole me from reality for quite some time. Coming in at over 1200 pages in length, this book is a massive endeavor. Fortunately for me Peter Hamilton writes hard science fiction and he specializes in his world building and imagination. Reality Dysfunction excels at both of these things. The best thing about this book was the world that he built within. The story and the characters are almost irrelevant and forgettable compared to the universe within.
The book is very difficult to keep things straight for the first couple of hundred pages as the cast is immense. Things are made tougher in that none of the characters standout. However, the incredible starships steal the pages and are definitely unforgettable. Hamilton treats the reader to an incredible chapter that was Kinetic and exhilarating in which we see the birth of a new starship. Freaking awesome!
I love magic and the supernatural and Hamilton treats it with a light hand but...I really lost interest when the supernatural powers became the front and center. No scientific explanation worked for me. I almost skim read large portions of the last couple of hundred pages.
I am a huge good fan of Peter Hamilton, he is one of my very favorite authors. I loved a great deal of this book is, but in the end, there just was too much book here to love.
Reality Dysfunction by Peter Hamilton stole me from reality for quite some time. Coming in at over 1200 pages in length, this book is a massive endeavor. Fortunately for me Peter Hamilton writes hard science fiction and he specializes in his world building and imagination. Reality Dysfunction excels at both of these things. The best thing about this book was the world that he built within. The story and the characters are almost irrelevant and forgettable compared to the universe within.
The book is very difficult to keep things straight for the first couple of hundred pages as the cast is immense. Things are made tougher in that none of the characters standout. However, the incredible starships steal the pages and are definitely unforgettable. Hamilton treats the reader to an incredible chapter that was Kinetic and exhilarating in which we see the birth of a new starship. Freaking awesome!
I love magic and the supernatural and Hamilton treats it with a light hand but...I really lost interest when the supernatural powers became the front and center. No scientific explanation worked for me. I almost skim read large portions of the last couple of hundred pages.
I am a huge good fan of Peter Hamilton, he is one of my very favorite authors. I loved a great deal of this book is, but in the end, there just was too much book here to love.
May 29, 2021
What an marathon this book was for me, it took me almost 40 days to finish this book. The Reality Dysfunction is not for a weak hearted, it is 1223 pages long and whooping 41 hours in audio.
Hamilton goes to super detail describing anything in this book be it a species a planet or a star ship. And many times due to this attention to detail I lost regarding where we are as regards to story.
Also as I mostly hear audio to and fro from work, I used to doze off and had to start entire chapter again. Imagine listening to 1.5 hours chapter again.
Hamilton takes a lot of time establishing the confederation universe for you, but once you are immersed in his world its an tremendous journey. Especially the last part of book picks up a lot and ends with a bang.
Some of the strong points of book are
1.Characters
2.Technology
3.World building
Some of the weak points of book are
1.Overly Verbose
Let me elaborate on the above points now
1.Characters
As is expected from Hamilton there are lots of characters in this book each unique from each other. But some of them do stand out, and the story weaves around them.
Few characters which I liked in this book are
1.Joshua Calbert
He is a star ship captain, and makes his living by scavenging artifacts of a race which has been destroyed thousands of years ago.
Also lady luck tends to favor him a lot as he always manages to find something unique.
We don't get much back ground story as regards to him which was a big surprise for me.
2.Quinn Dexter
He is a convicted criminal who has been sentenced to public duty for a period of 10 years, and as part of that he heads to the planet La Londe.
Unknown to the authorities are the fact that he belongs to a satanist cult and has powerful sensors hidden in his body.
He uses both of these weapons to full extent, and unleashes a dangerous thing on the confederation.
3.Laton
He is an edenist serpent who has been hiding on La Londe for a long time, he is obsessed with immortality and will leave no stone upturned to achieve it.
2.Technology
It's 26th century and humanity is spread across hundreds of world. They manage to traverse to these worlds with the use of FTL technology or by means of biotek ships.
Now humanity as a whole is divided into two types in Confederation.
1. Edenists
They have affinity gene embedded in their DNA which allows them to telepathically communicate with each other. They also have life spans of about 120-140.
They reside in special habitats called as biotek habitats, these habitats are responsible for control of everything in that world, from educating the children to providing food to the people.
The edenists divide everything equally among their peers, and treat each others as equals.
Their are some special people among Edenist who get to command an Void hawk. Now Void hawks are biotek ships who are bonded to their captain with affinity gene, also they are able to traverse huge distances.
2. Adamists
They are people who don't have affinity gene embedded in their DNA, but they have bio engineered their bodies for different purposes.
They also use neural mnemonics which is a sort of google glass taken to their next level, it helps them to gather data or chart ship courses. It is also used when a person suffers an injury to automatically push drugs into his system.
This is just an summary of technology which Hamilton encompasses in his book.
3.World building
Hamilton has gone to next level regarding his world building in this book, he leads into many worlds in this book.
But not only you get the history of the world but also get description of flora and fauna existing on that world. He also gives you a deep insight into economics of that world.
Regarding the weak points of the book
1.Overly Verbose
The tremendous attention to detail makes this book an difficult read, you just lose the place in the story many times.
The experience would have been definitely better if 100-200 pages of the book could have been reduced.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Hamilton goes to super detail describing anything in this book be it a species a planet or a star ship. And many times due to this attention to detail I lost regarding where we are as regards to story.
Also as I mostly hear audio to and fro from work, I used to doze off and had to start entire chapter again. Imagine listening to 1.5 hours chapter again.
Hamilton takes a lot of time establishing the confederation universe for you, but once you are immersed in his world its an tremendous journey. Especially the last part of book picks up a lot and ends with a bang.
Some of the strong points of book are
1.Characters
2.Technology
3.World building
Some of the weak points of book are
1.Overly Verbose
Let me elaborate on the above points now
1.Characters
As is expected from Hamilton there are lots of characters in this book each unique from each other. But some of them do stand out, and the story weaves around them.
Few characters which I liked in this book are
1.Joshua Calbert
He is a star ship captain, and makes his living by scavenging artifacts of a race which has been destroyed thousands of years ago.
Also lady luck tends to favor him a lot as he always manages to find something unique.
We don't get much back ground story as regards to him which was a big surprise for me.
2.Quinn Dexter
He is a convicted criminal who has been sentenced to public duty for a period of 10 years, and as part of that he heads to the planet La Londe.
Unknown to the authorities are the fact that he belongs to a satanist cult and has powerful sensors hidden in his body.
He uses both of these weapons to full extent, and unleashes a dangerous thing on the confederation.
3.Laton
He is an edenist serpent who has been hiding on La Londe for a long time, he is obsessed with immortality and will leave no stone upturned to achieve it.
2.Technology
It's 26th century and humanity is spread across hundreds of world. They manage to traverse to these worlds with the use of FTL technology or by means of biotek ships.
Now humanity as a whole is divided into two types in Confederation.
1. Edenists
They have affinity gene embedded in their DNA which allows them to telepathically communicate with each other. They also have life spans of about 120-140.
They reside in special habitats called as biotek habitats, these habitats are responsible for control of everything in that world, from educating the children to providing food to the people.
The edenists divide everything equally among their peers, and treat each others as equals.
Their are some special people among Edenist who get to command an Void hawk. Now Void hawks are biotek ships who are bonded to their captain with affinity gene, also they are able to traverse huge distances.
2. Adamists
They are people who don't have affinity gene embedded in their DNA, but they have bio engineered their bodies for different purposes.
They also use neural mnemonics which is a sort of google glass taken to their next level, it helps them to gather data or chart ship courses. It is also used when a person suffers an injury to automatically push drugs into his system.
This is just an summary of technology which Hamilton encompasses in his book.
3.World building
Hamilton has gone to next level regarding his world building in this book, he leads into many worlds in this book.
But not only you get the history of the world but also get description of flora and fauna existing on that world. He also gives you a deep insight into economics of that world.
Regarding the weak points of the book
1.Overly Verbose
The tremendous attention to detail makes this book an difficult read, you just lose the place in the story many times.
The experience would have been definitely better if 100-200 pages of the book could have been reduced.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
November 1, 2017
Acum că am terminat pentru a treia oară această carte pot zice liniștit: este la fel de bună ca atunci când am citit-o prima dată și a doua oară!!! Deși este cam contestată pe internetul românesc, din cauza includerii unor elemente horror și fantasy, pentru mine este una dintre cele mai captivante cărți SF din toate timpurile... Sfârșitul m-a făcut mai mult decât curios despre ce o să se întâmple mai încolo și, mai ales, cine câștiga la final. “Disfuncția realității” este prima carte în care deşi nu țin cu vreun personaj, ci cu omenirea în general, nu vreau să aibă un happy end!
Recenzia completa pe https://anaarecarti.ro/main/disfuncti...
Recenzia completa pe https://anaarecarti.ro/main/disfuncti...
June 27, 2011
The word "epic" was created for books like this. Clocking in at 1100 pages, this is only part 1 of a trilogy that consists of two more similarly sized volumes. I thought at first that the author might just need a really good editor, especially since the first half dozen chapters kept introducing entirely new settings and characters. It was difficult to get into because it didn't seem to focus on any one plot and it was hard to remember who was who. However, all the different threads slowly began to weave together and my patience was rewarded. Despite the massive page count, it never seemed wordy and it certainly never dragged. It may have helped that I flipped back and forth between this and other books instead of trying to devour this in one go, but I never got tired of the story and am eager to start volume #2.
May 19, 2009
If you trying to decipher a bunch of techno-babble, without any initial explanation, that may or may not get clarified chapters into the book... This book may be for you.
This is what grandparents must feel like when hearing a casual discussion about how VOIP TCP/IP packets are prioritized with next generation networks using IPv6, and the potential social ramifications of packet filtering from ISPs who are owned by content providers.
Edit:
I would like to add that the story does seem interesting, but I can not get over the disregard to uninitiated readers, especially in the first book of a series.
This is what grandparents must feel like when hearing a casual discussion about how VOIP TCP/IP packets are prioritized with next generation networks using IPv6, and the potential social ramifications of packet filtering from ISPs who are owned by content providers.
Edit:
I would like to add that the story does seem interesting, but I can not get over the disregard to uninitiated readers, especially in the first book of a series.
September 21, 2011
#27 THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION by PETER F. HAMILTON: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone: aliens, ghosts, mobsters, genetically alive space ships, smugglers, thieves, serial killers, even Indiana Jones-type characters who scavange exploded planets for ancient relics. Massively great!
June 18, 2016
Peter Hamilton built a really interesting space opera universe in The Reality Dysfunction with a lot of potential. He then ruined it with a rambling, juvenile, magical-spiritualistic plot that feels very out of place in said universe.
Did I mention rambling? I think the first plot point of significance is somewhere around page 400 or so. I didn't feel like there was significant plot movement until well over halfway through. I'll admit, if you overlook the absurd premise, the story telling gets interesting towards the end, but then of course, the story doesn't actually end with the book (not even close) -- he apparently needs two other equally wordy tomes for that task. These books make George R.R. Martin look concise, with lots of pointless exposition.
And then there are the characters, which despite the future setting seem terribly outdated. Rife with weak-willed women who seem to exist only to provide sex. Then there's the main character, Joshua, who is developed sloppily, and lacks depth -- galavanting around like James Bond -- making women magically swoon and always cleverly outwitting problem situations with flair. All of the characters seem more like caricatures than believable people. The book varies from slightly to blatantly misogynist, with some slightly racist undertones to boot.
I probably could've stomached all of this if it were 300 pages, but it's 1100. It was more of a grind than a pleasure to read, and I suspect the high ratings are from a small audience who actually likes this magical drivel, vice the thousands of people who started this book and made the right choice to quit. If you like space opera and science fiction that doesn't drip with Christian pseudo-babble and has modern, believable, characters, steer clear.
Did I mention rambling? I think the first plot point of significance is somewhere around page 400 or so. I didn't feel like there was significant plot movement until well over halfway through. I'll admit, if you overlook the absurd premise, the story telling gets interesting towards the end, but then of course, the story doesn't actually end with the book (not even close) -- he apparently needs two other equally wordy tomes for that task. These books make George R.R. Martin look concise, with lots of pointless exposition.
And then there are the characters, which despite the future setting seem terribly outdated. Rife with weak-willed women who seem to exist only to provide sex. Then there's the main character, Joshua, who is developed sloppily, and lacks depth -- galavanting around like James Bond -- making women magically swoon and always cleverly outwitting problem situations with flair. All of the characters seem more like caricatures than believable people. The book varies from slightly to blatantly misogynist, with some slightly racist undertones to boot.
I probably could've stomached all of this if it were 300 pages, but it's 1100. It was more of a grind than a pleasure to read, and I suspect the high ratings are from a small audience who actually likes this magical drivel, vice the thousands of people who started this book and made the right choice to quit. If you like space opera and science fiction that doesn't drip with Christian pseudo-babble and has modern, believable, characters, steer clear.
October 20, 2017
I love everything that Peter has written, except this old series from 1996.
WARNING: includes very graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children!)
Overall this was a very good book, but only half the fun and quality Commonwealth series books. Lots of characters, great sci-fi imagery and technology, and some truly magical and wonderful scenes of human-to-organic-spaceship bonding and platonic love, especially in the first chapter. Glorious.
However, very sadly....
** Spoilers below **
... the dark side of the book is very dark, including graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children! THIS IS NOT NEEDED) by both humans and demons. I can only suspect Mr Hamilton wanted to show his skills at writing both extreme angelic-wondrous and demonic-gory blood-soaked evil.
This is supposed to be entertainment, and ... in my rarely humble opinion ... readers do not need to be subjected to such graphic detail of the evil-gore, and certainly not of children.
I recommend this book BUT BE WARNED to just SKIP PAST the truly unnecessary scenes of child mutilation and abuse.
WARNING: includes very graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children!)
Overall this was a very good book, but only half the fun and quality Commonwealth series books. Lots of characters, great sci-fi imagery and technology, and some truly magical and wonderful scenes of human-to-organic-spaceship bonding and platonic love, especially in the first chapter. Glorious.
However, very sadly....
** Spoilers below **
... the dark side of the book is very dark, including graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children! THIS IS NOT NEEDED) by both humans and demons. I can only suspect Mr Hamilton wanted to show his skills at writing both extreme angelic-wondrous and demonic-gory blood-soaked evil.
This is supposed to be entertainment, and ... in my rarely humble opinion ... readers do not need to be subjected to such graphic detail of the evil-gore, and certainly not of children.
I recommend this book BUT BE WARNED to just SKIP PAST the truly unnecessary scenes of child mutilation and abuse.
October 29, 2018
3.5 rounded up to 4 becuase I love space opera more than I should. This isn't as good as Judas Unchained but probably better than the Void trilogy. Since I read those first, it didn't feel as fresh or unique and since this was a very early novel in Hamilton's career, the writing wasn't as good. The dizzying caste of characters was too dizzying and I lost insight/connections to several of them. The bad guys are a bit hand wavey, their skills and motivations seem to change depending on the situation. Maybe there is a larger plan to tie it all together but I am not sure I want to wade through the other 2000 pages to find out. Some characters good, plot line decent but nothing awesome.
I am not sure if I will read the next book, right now I am leaning no but I am definitely on the fence.
I am not sure if I will read the next book, right now I am leaning no but I am definitely on the fence.
September 27, 2023
It says a lot that I finished a book 1 that clocks in at 1200 pages and want to pick up the next book immediately. This book is big, bold, complex, dense, and unapologetically dark; like really dark man. Would call this sci-fi horror easily since the darkness and disturbing events are so pervasive. As a fan of dark horror books, really liked this aspect and we don't see it enough in sci-fi.
Peter F Hamilton is cemented as one of my favorite sci-fi authors after loving his Commonwealth Saga series. He continues to impress with his unique blend of sci-fi that balances ideas, characters, technology, and vivid worlds - among many other things.
Also, even though I'd classify this as a space opera and the scale is indeed big, we do get a lot of page time on a single planet which is refreshing for the genre as we get a lot of time experiencing the richness of this one world and the people, the aliens, and the strange wildlife that lives there.
This book is also really weird and isn't afraid to have crazy stuff happen. There's a lot of mystery for why this weird stuff is happening and there seems to be some unrevealed logic to why these things are happening.
I don't think I'd recommend this book to most people, but if you're brave enough to commit to these giant tomes he writes you'll be rewarded with a very rich and interesting portal into one of sci-fi's greatest imaginations.
The book also seemed to fly by and I was always interested in what was going to happen next, the pacing is very good and never felt like any part really overstayed its welcome. Lots of POVs that all feel distinct and interesting.
I honestly have no idea where this series is going to go, but I have some tinfoil hat theories and excited to continue and experience the ride.
Peter F Hamilton is cemented as one of my favorite sci-fi authors after loving his Commonwealth Saga series. He continues to impress with his unique blend of sci-fi that balances ideas, characters, technology, and vivid worlds - among many other things.
Also, even though I'd classify this as a space opera and the scale is indeed big, we do get a lot of page time on a single planet which is refreshing for the genre as we get a lot of time experiencing the richness of this one world and the people, the aliens, and the strange wildlife that lives there.
This book is also really weird and isn't afraid to have crazy stuff happen. There's a lot of mystery for why this weird stuff is happening and there seems to be some unrevealed logic to why these things are happening.
I don't think I'd recommend this book to most people, but if you're brave enough to commit to these giant tomes he writes you'll be rewarded with a very rich and interesting portal into one of sci-fi's greatest imaginations.
The book also seemed to fly by and I was always interested in what was going to happen next, the pacing is very good and never felt like any part really overstayed its welcome. Lots of POVs that all feel distinct and interesting.
I honestly have no idea where this series is going to go, but I have some tinfoil hat theories and excited to continue and experience the ride.
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